our vines have tender grapes

 

The Reckless Moment

Movies (and documentaries), lately:

Flightplan    (Amazon Prime Video)

The Reckless Moment    (You Tube)

The Little Foxes    (Amazon Prime Video)

In A Lonely Place    (APV)

Taxi Driver    (Netflix)

Downfall:  The Case Against Boeing    (Netflix)

The China Hustle    (APV)

Psycho    (Amazon / stream)

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        Recently I was kind of enraptured, knowing that Bernard Herrmann did the powerful and effective music in North By Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959) and Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976).  Come to find out:  when I put on Hitchcock's Psycho, the music over the opening credits was so assertive, urgent, and riveting, I thought Wow that almost sounds like Bernard Herrmann, too.

        And it was!!

In A Lonely Place is considered a film noir.  Humphrey Bogart has a unique gravitas, as an actor.  You can't not watch him and listen to him when he is on-screen.  They could have also titled this movie Anger Management, if they had that term back in 1950.  Bogart's character would erupt in rage and fury:  modern mental health professionals would have a field day analyzing this movie.

        I would tend to file his case under "T" for This guy is crazy.

        Or under "W" for What the heck, this guy is crazy.

The Reckless Moment stars Joan Bennett (1910 - 1990).  At one point they are finding (or hiding) a clue near a boat house.  I hear the words "boat house" and think of Body Heat.  (Note to self:  watch out around boat houses....)

I remember my father referring to the 1941 movie, The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis.  He thought she was a great actress -- he spoke her name with a touch of awe.

        I always wanted to see The Little Foxes, but missed it when it was on TCM back in the day.  At first my imagination idly pictured a movie with actual foxes, but I didn't really think so.  Then I thought the family's last name was Fox, but it turns out that was not it, either.  The title takes a phrase from the Bible in the Song of Solomon, 2:15 --

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines:  for our vines have tender grapes.

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